Inevitably legends grew about a place as unique and successful as Sound of the Sea. The spirit of camaraderie was so marked that the guests frequently spent time in the kitchen learning from the cooks how to prepare the dishes. It was said that mine was a place where you waited on the servants instead of the servants waiting on you. There was a joke – and it was not entirely a joke – that if I liked you and you had ten guilders in your pocket you could stay at Sound of the Sea forever . . .

The following evening, after a day’s shooting with Steve and Henry, Grace flopped into a deck-chair by the pool and checked her phone for texts or emails before calling Tina and Daisy.

At first, she’d looked at her mobile constantly, just waiting for a bomb to drop from Mr Jamison, or Mr Judd, or from Lawrence: that he really was seeking full custody, that he was going to get the court to prevent Daisy coming to Bali. But as the days had passed and she’d heard nothing from him, she’d started to relax – or at least to put it out of her mind. Mr Jamison had said that he would email her once he had finished reviewing the insurance documents and the trust deed, so there was nothing she could do in that regard but wait.

Grace spoke to her mother and Daisy every day, sometimes several times a day, and so far they’d had no news of Lawrence either. However that evening, after the usual hellos, Tina said, ‘I think Lawrence might be back from India.’

‘What makes you think so?’ asked Grace, slightly alarmed. ‘From what he said I thought he was going to be there for quite a while, or at least moving constantly back and forth.’

‘I don’t know, but he called my home phone this morning and asked to speak to Daisy. I overheard him saying to Daisy that he was planning something special and looking forward to spending time with her. Has he contacted you?’

‘No. I’m leaving it to the lawyers and trying to have as little contact as possible. My strategy is to be brief and polite, and keep any communication to exchanges about visits with Daisy, those sorts of practicalities.’

‘He also sent her a present,’ said Tina, and Grace could hear the edge to her mother’s voice. ‘It arrived via courier just after we got home from school.’ At that point, Daisy clamoured in the background, demanding to speak to Grace.

‘Daddy got me the beeeeeest present, Mummy!’ Daisy’s voice got louder as she took the phone.

‘What is it, sweetheart?’

‘Daddy called it a “smart watch”. It does lots of things and it tells me the time, so I don’t have to learn how!’

Grace bit her tongue to stop the expletive that sprang to her lips.